Zaza Pachulia coming back to the Golden State Warriors, but not as a player

FILE – Warriors' Zaza Pachulia greets fans as he enters the court for warm ups before the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets face off during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland in this Saturday, May 26, 2018 file photo. Pachulia, who played center for the Dubs from 2016-2018, is joining the Warriors as a team consultant. less

FILE – Warriors' Zaza Pachulia greets fans as he enters the court for warm ups before the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets face off during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena ... more

FILE – Warriors' Zaza Pachulia greets fans as he enters the court for warm ups before the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets face off during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland in this Saturday, May 26, 2018 file photo. Pachulia, who played center for the Dubs from 2016-2018, is joining the Warriors as a team consultant. less

FILE – Warriors' Zaza Pachulia greets fans as he enters the court for warm ups before the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets face off during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena ... more

Zaza Pachulia coming back to the Golden State Warriors, but not as a player

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A fan favorite from the Golden State Warriors' 2017 and 2018 NBA title runs is returning to the franchise, but he won't be on the team's roster.

Instead, Zaza Pachulia, who played center for the Dubs from 2016-2018, is joining the Warriors as a team consultant. The Warriors announced on Thursday that Pachulia, who recently ended his 16-year NBA career, will work on "both the business and basketball side" of the team's operations.

Pachulia was a key role player for the Warriors during their title runs. He averaged 5.7 points and 5.3 rebounds as a Warrior and is the only player from the Republic of Georgia to win an NBA title.

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Over the course of his NBA career, he averaged 6.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.3 minutes in 1,098 games.

Several other changes and additions to the team's front office and coaching staff were announced by the Warriors on Thursday. Kirk Lacob, the son of team owner Joe Lacob, was promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations, and Mike Dunleavy Jr. was promoted to assistant general manager, the team announced.

Before that, he coached the Warriors' G-League team in Santa Cruz for two years. Last season, Miles led the Santa Cruz Warriors to a first-place finish in the Pacific Division of the G-League and to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the Oklahoma City Blue. The team's 34-16 record last season was the second-best in franchise history.